Saturday, January 17, 2009

NFL FanHouseNFL Agrees With Titans: Ravens Should've Been Called for Delay of Game

NFL FanHouseNFL Agrees With Titans: Ravens Should've Been Called for Delay of Game: "Great news, Titans fans: got some closure for you. Mike Pereira, the NFL head of officials, agrees that, yes, the Ravens probably should've been called for delay of game during that last, fateful drive that would eventually set up Matt Stover's game-winning field goal.

Quick refresher for the one person who has no idea what I'm talking about: with the score tied 10-10, 2:52 to go in the fourth quarter, and the Ravens facing a third and 2, quarterback Joe Flacco didn't take the snap until after the play clock hit '00.'"

As Luck Would Have It …

Four Chords

This Day In History: Wierdest Disaster Ever


This Day In History: Wierdest Disaster Ever: "On this day in 1919 (from the day of publishing, at least), argueably the strangest man-made disaster ever happened in Boston when a 50 foot, 2.3 million gallon tank of molasses collapsed. This created a wave of sugary destruction up to 15 feet-high, travelling at the breakneck speed (for molasses) of 35 mph and what must surely be one of the hardest clean-up efforts of a non-inherently lethal substance in recent history."

Device helped ensure US Airways plane would float

Device helped ensure US Airways plane would float: "Planes can float, but the US Airways Airbus A-320 that crashed into the Hudson River Thursday had a better chance than most.

That's because it was equipped with a special device unique to Airbus planes that increased the likelihood it would stay on top of the water.

The device, called a 'ditching switch,' effectively seals the plane by closing valves and ventilation ports, a spokesman for the airline said.

Industry experts said the ditching switch is rarely invoked, as 'it's not as if anyone expects to ditch these planes,' said Robert W. Mann, who owns a Port Washington-based aviation consulting company."

NASA - Hubble Views Galactic Core in Unprecedented New Detail

NASA - Hubble Views Galactic Core in Unprecedented New Detail: "This composite color infrared image of the center of our Milky Way galaxy reveals a new population of massive stars and new details in complex structures in the hot ionized gas swirling around the central 300 light-years. This sweeping panorama is the sharpest infrared picture ever made of the Galactic core. It offers a nearby laboratory for how massive stars form and influence their environment in the often violent nuclear regions of other galaxies."

Leamington man loses $150,000 in Nigerian scam

Leamington man loses $150,000 in Nigerian scam: "A Leamington man has fallen prey to international scam artists who strung him along for more than a year with the promise of millions in cash, but ultimately bilked him and his family of $150,000.

John Rempel said he quit his truck driving job, lost friends, borrowed money and crossed the globe in pursuit of a non-existent inheritance, after he was contacted by e-mail in what is known as a Nigerian 419 scam."

Friday, January 16, 2009

Who Owns What

Wrist Band Battery


Wrist Band Battery: "This wearable rechargeable battery pack is designed for quickly and easily supplying extra power to all of your popular portable electronic devices. Provided with a stretch cord and 8 types of power connectors, it is easy to wear your new fashion accessory while powering your cellphone, MP3/MP4 player, portable game player, and similar handheld personal electronics. When used as a direct power source, provides up to 3 hours talk time or up to 8 hours MP3 use."

Self Defence with a cane part 1


Self Defence with a cane part 1: "In the art of self-defence with a walking-stick, the stick is held in the hand with the thumb overlapping the fingers, and not, as in single-stick or sword-play, with the thumb resting on the blade. The stick is therefore manipulated with the wrist -- and not with the fingers as in sword-play -- and the blows are given by swinging the body on the hips -- and not merely by flips from the elbow. In this way blows can be made so formidable that with an ordinary malacca cane it is possible to sever a man's jugular vein through the collar of his overcoat."

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

30 Ways to Die of Electrocution




30 Ways to Die of Electrocution - a set on Flickr: "30 Ways to Die of Electrocution"

Microsoft Attempts To Kill Music Forever With Songsmith Commercial

The Most Remote Place on Earth


The Most Remote Place on Earth: "The island is so small that cartographers can't even put it on their maps (not enough resolution). Located in the South Atlantic between Africa and South America, this volcanic outcropping has the honor of being the remotest inhabited island on the planet, and that's including Antarctica and the North Pole. One of the islands in the archipelago is called 'Inaccessible', which only seems appropriate, together with their motto: 'Our faith is our strength'"

If Movie Posters Were Honest


If Movie Posters Were Honest

Another Stonehenge Discovered Under Lake Michigan?

Another Stonehenge Discovered Under Lake Michigan?: "A group of researchers using sonar to find shipwrecks on the bottom of Lake Michigan have found something far older than crashed cargo ships. They believe they've found a 10-thousand-year-old stone structure like Stonehenge, including a rock carved with the image of a mastodon. io9 pal Geoff Manaugh reports over at BLDG BLOG that the researchers' report (with cool sonar images) was released last year to surprisingly little fanfare."

Internet threat to minors overblown, study suggests


Internet threat to minors overblown, study suggests: "Worries that the Internet and social networking services like MySpace pose a threat to child safety may be overblown, a report by industry, academics and technology experts suggests.

The report, which will be released on Wednesday, suggests that the biggest threats to children's safety online may come from other children, and that their own behavior could contribute to the trouble they encounter."

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

50 Best Business Movies Ever

50 Best Business Movies Ever: "There’s no easier way to amp up your business acumen than by learning from other people’s experiences. If those people happen to be movie characters, and learning means putting your feet up with some popcorn and a cold one, all the better.

Give yourself a break from the summer swelter by absorbing a business lesson or two from the 50 best business movies ever made."

History's Most Beloved Gadgets

History's Most Beloved Gadgets: "Almost everybody who checked out Palm's eleventh hour comeback pitch at CES 2009 loved it, and the almost universal fawning over the Pre set me to thinking about other gadgets that have received universal love or, like the high school over-achiever, had so much success that love was not needed.

Here's a list of history's honeys, machines which were not only big sellers but earned themselves a place in the hearts of the buyers. If you are the kind of person who names your dead, inanimate devices, its likely that you christened at least some of these."

16 Abandoned Hotels From Around The World


16 Abandoned Hotels From Around The World: "Around the world stand empty hotels that symbolise the loss of prosperity and the death of dreams. Lavish resorts and small hotels which were once filled with life and activity are now abandoned and filled only with decay."

The Greatest Sportscasters Of All Time

The Greatest Sportscasters Of All Time: "Following up to our post over the weekend (linked here) about the Top 50 sportscasters, as voted by the American Sportscasters Association, we now have the complete list picked by members and a special committee."

Findings - Anti-Love Drug May Be Ticket to Bliss


Findings - Anti-Love Drug May Be Ticket to Bliss - NYTimes.com: "In the new issue of Nature, the neuroscientist Larry Young offers a grand unified theory of love. After analyzing the brain chemistry of mammalian pair bonding — and, not incidentally, explaining humans’ peculiar erotic fascination with breasts — Dr. Young predicts that it won’t be long before an unscrupulous suitor could sneak a pharmaceutical love potion into your drink."

Disney Rejection Letter, Circa 1938


Disney Rejection Letter, Circa 1938: "The thing that totally sucks about applying for a job is that you may face rejection -- and depending on which industry you're looking to work in, that rejection may come in the form of a letter. Some rejection letters then become more popular than others, especially if the person being rejected turned out to be a famous author (see this NPR piece about that) or ... a woman. See, back in 1938 it was awfully hard to find good work as a woman -- mainly because most (if not all) of the sought-after jobs were being given to men."

Five of the World's Weirdest Plants


Don't Feed the Plants!: "Everyone should be familiar with the genus Dionea or 'Venus Fly Trap,' and you may have
previously learned of certain ant-loving Acacia shrubs, but the vegetative world is home to plenty
stranger, and while perhaps not as adrenaline-pumping as Crustaceans or as gruesome as
Amphibians, plants have more than earned the spotlight just this once, providing food, shelter and
oxygen for the entire kingdom Animalia."

Crows Are Getting Smarter

33 1/3 Books


33 1/3 Books : "Meat is Murder, Unknown Pleasures, One Step Beyond… Those familiar phrases, which made perfect sense on my CD rack, seemed gleefully out of context in this environment. Or were they? Published by Continuum Books, the 33 1/3 series redefines the concept of a classic book. With upwards of 50 titles going deep into albums from Sonic Youth to Slayer, 33 1/3 doesn’t discriminate: Let’s Talk About Love (A Journey to the End of Taste) examines the essence of Celine Dion, and is one of the series’ bestsellers."

6 Obnoxious Old People Habits (Explained by Science)


6 Obnoxious Old People Habits (Explained by Science): "How many times have you gotten behind some large sedan going 30 mph on the highway, only to notice it's being driven by someone born during the Great Depression? Do you stop to say, 'One day, that'll be me!'

Because it will. Science is busy understanding why old people are the way they are, and they've come up explanations for things like..."

Things to Do Before You Die


Things to Do Before You Die : "Nothing on this list is that automatic. Every element here is a matter of the choices you make, the chances you take, the courage you are willing to show. You can trick yourself into thinking bungee jumping somehow satisfies those criteria, but willfully falling off a crane in a mall parking lot is more or less a rite of passage by now, isn’t it? Maybe you call that a big moment. The trick is choosing to experience them all that way."

The Sling Shot Man

High Schooler Hits 82ft Buzzer Beater

Monday, January 12, 2009

The year's weirdest animals


The year's weirdest animals : "From a sea-slug that runs on solar power, to a bug that lives in total isolation; from the world's smallest snake to a one-tonne rodent – here are the 10 oddest species from 2008."

Girl, 13, sends 14,528 texts in a month

Girl, 13, sends 14,528 texts in a month: "A California father says he discovered his 13-year-old daughter sent 484 text messages per day last month -- one message every 2 minutes of every waking hour.

Greg Hardesty of Silverado Canyon, Calif., told the New York Post his 440-page cell phone bill revealed his daughter Reina had sent an astonishing 14,528 text messages.

'First, I laughed. I thought, 'That's insane, that's impossible,'' said Hardesty, 45, a reporter for The Orange County Register. 'And I immediately whipped out the calculator to see if it was humanly possible.'"

36 Educational Tips From 70s and 80s TV


36 Educational Tips From 70s and 80s TV: "moments. I got to thinking, what would it be like if someone my age had never gone to school, but instead had been raised by watching TV. Here are a few of the ways he might believe the world works."

Giant panda in China bites third victim


Giant panda in China bites third victim - CNN.com: "For the third time, he's tasted the flesh of an unwitting intruder in his pen at the Beijing Zoo.

His most recent victim was 28-year-old Zhang Jiao, who told CNN he fell into the panda pen Wednesday while trying to catch a small toy thrown by his young son.

'My son and I were playing with a panda doll, throwing it to each other, when I dropped with the toy' into the pen, Zhang said.

The barrier around the pen is about 5 feet tall, but on the other side is a drop of 9 to 10 feet, and Zhang says he could not climb out."

Sunday, January 11, 2009

NFL Where Are They Now




NFL Where Are They Now

Every Simpsons Couch Gag

It's Official: Tebow Coming Back for More


It's Official: Tebow Coming Back for More: "Tebow made his announcement at Florida's National Championship celebration in Gainesville, FL, setting up the crowd for a disappointing conclusion as he thanked his coaches and fellow players for, 'the amazing time I've had here.'

As Tebow began to walk off the stage, he appeared to suddenly remember something and jogged back to the center of the platform. 'One more thing. Let's do it all again next year. I'm coming back!'"

Rhythm Machine Crazy Beatbox

Hippo Eats Dwarf

Passive Aggressive at the Hardware Store

Can the new Taurus save Ford, again?


Can the new Taurus save Ford, again? - Los Angeles Times: "Twenty-odd years ago, the Taurus saved Ford. Can it do it again?

Ford Motor Co. will unveil its complete redesign of the car at the auto show in Detroit today, and the company is hoping that the flagship full-size sedan will set the pace for a new generation of Ford vehicles -- not to mention provide a much-needed sales boost in a competitive sector of the market at a crucial juncture."